Eureka 37, MacMurray 20 - A convincing road win for the hottest team in the UMAC. Eureka's LeAnthony Reasnover led the steamrolling Eureka rushing attack with a career-high 274 yards and 3 TDs en route to a UMAC Player of the Week award. With the incredible performance, Reasnover passed UMAC rival Chazz Middlebrook and is now the conference rushing leader with 1,227 yards. MacMurray seemed to play it safe again with Middlebrook, who only had 18 yards on 5 attempts. Without Chazz, MacMurray turned to the air with QB Nathan Randall, who passed for 252 yards and a TD, but also tossed 3 interceptions. MacMurray WR Demetrius Curry had a day with 3 receptions for 145 yards and a TD, but it wasn't enough, as Eureka's defense was able to hold the previously 11th ranked offense to 317 yards and forced them to abandon their normally solid running game. RB Marquez Ellison did score 2 rushing TDs, but was unable to get much else going and finished with only 52 yards on 22 attempts. This was a statement by the red-hot Eureka defense, and they hope to back up that statement when they take on current UMAC leader St. Scholastica in Illinois this weekend. MacMurray will hope to pick their heads up at Westminster this week.
Northwestern 30, Martin Luther 14 - Northwestern cruised past Martin Luther with possibly their most productive offensive performance to date this season. While it didn't bump them out of the UMAC offensive cellar, they were able to put up 390 total yards (150 more than their per game average) and put away the Knights in New Ulm. Eight different Northwestern players had rush attempts on their way to 270 rushing yards, and three of those rushers had rushing touchdowns. While this game didn't prove anything that we didn't already know, it probably felt good for the Eagles to pull themselves up to an even record. Martin Luther still has a shot at an even or winning record this year, a pretty impressive feat the year after an 0-10 season. They will hope to spoil Crown's homecoming next week, while Northwestern will make the trip to Morris to take on the Cougars.
Minnesota Morris 17, Iowa Wesleyan 24 - Iowa Wesleyan scored 18 unanswered points in the 3rd and 4th quarter to come back and win the battle that everyone forgot was happening. While it ended up being an exciting finish, this game was lost in the rest of the UMAC shuffle, as both of these teams will finish with forgettable losing records. Iowa Wesleyan QB DeMarcus Collins was able to spark the Tigers offense by passing for 119 yards and a TD and rushing for 65 yards and 2 TDs. RB Akenyon Bagley added 86 yards and a TD on the ground, and DB Joseph Mosley earned defensive UMAC player of the week with a solid effort including 13 tackles, 2 TFL, a forced fumble, an interception, 2 pass breakups and a punt block. Other than that; there wasn't much to see here. The two teams combined for 445 total yards, which the 3rd lowest total in the conference for the year (1st - Westminster/Minnesota-Morris with 406, 2nd - Northwestern/Iowa Wesleyan with 425). Minnesota Morris will host Northwestern this weekend, while Iowa Wesleyan will host Greenville.
Westminster 24, Greenville 14 - Westminster's QB Trent White had another solid game, throwing for 190 yards and 2 TDs, while 2015 UMAC offensive player of the year Latif Adams ran for 140 yards and a score, which was a season-high for him. Greenville was able to move the ball, but wasn't able to capitalize on the offensive production. Greenville RB Johnny Pruitt rushed for 111 yards and QB George Harris passed for 137, but it wasn't enough as the Panthers fell to the Blue Jays. Defensively for Westminster, DL Clayton Bristol racked up 9 tackles including 2 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss as Westminster improved to a 4-3 UMAC record. They will host MacMurray next week and hope to play spoiler again to the shocked Highlanders, while Greenville will travel to Iowa Wesleyan hoping to improve on their conference record.
St. Scholastica 49, Crown 21 - This game was just a wee bit closer than the score suggests. While St. Scholastica racked up 465 total yards on just 50 offensive plays, Crown was down by two scores late in the third quarter before St. Scholastica was able to put them away for good. CSS QB Zach Edwards passed for 235 yards and 4 TDs, and two rushers - Jeff Lemay and Jack Peru - went for over 100 yards on the ground, with 122 and 112 respectively. The CSS WR duo of Hunter Thompson and Aaron Olson combined for 217 yards and all 4 TD catches, and Scholastica rolled over Crown. For Crown, RB Derek Chilcoate was able to grind out 121 yards and a score on the ground. Crown's offense was able to keep them competitive, but their defense gave up a ton of big plays; Scholastica only possessed the ball for 21:36 of the game but were still able to out-gain and out-score Crown. Side-note to this game though; I was there, and with the score 42-21 and only 3:22 left in the game, St. Scholastica was still passing, and not just to keep the clock running. A hook-and-ladder pass to a lineman was completed for a TD out of a swinging gate formation on the drive, but was called back for holding, and a backwards pass to a different lineman was also attempted. I'm not gonna name-call or anything, but if I were a coach, I'd probably just run the ball in that kind of situation. I just don't think trick plays when you're up by 21 are really necessary. In any case, the game was out of reach and it didn't really matter. St. Scholastica will travel to Eureka next week in a huge UMAC matchup, and Crown will host Martin Luther for homecoming.
There are only two weeks of regular season football left in the year, and only one team will get the chance to play another game, and probably get obliterated by the MIAC champion. There are still three teams in the running: Eureka, St. Scholastica, and MacMurray, that are all vying for the UMAC crown. There are still some pretty interesting possibilities in these last two weeks, as Eureka plays St. Scholastica next week and MacMurray takes Scholastica on in the last week of the regular season. Let's go through all the possibilities for the UMAC championship, shall we?
Eureka - With their win over MacMurray last week, they're on the right track, but it's not all sunshine and butterflies. Due to their early season loss to Northwestern way back in week two, their best chance at being the owner of a UMAC championship is to beat St. Scholastica this week, and finish off the year with a victory over Martin Luther. Winning out would guarantee them the championship, as they would hold the head-to-head win if either MacMurray or St. Scholastica were to finish with the same conference record. If they were to lose either of their remaining games, they would be out of the running, as either MacMurray or St. Scholastica will finish with only one conference loss. The only scenario where Eureka can pull off a championship with two conference losses is if they defeat St. Scholastica and somehow lose to Martin Luther, and MacMurray also defeats St. Scholastica but loses to Westminster next week. In that case, all three teams would end up with a 7-2 conference record, but Eureka will have defeated both of them.
St. Scholastica - It's kind of weird, but none of these teams really has an "easy" path to the UMAC championship. While St. Scholastica is the UMAC leader at this point, they play two huge UMAC showdowns, and if they lose even one, it is very possible that they will miss out on the championship. If they beat Eureka, the only way they clinch the championship is with a win over MacMurray in week 10 or if MacMurray loses to Westminster next week. In this scenario, they would actually be able to clinch the conference this weekend. If they are unable to defeat Eureka, they need to beat MacMurray and pray that Eureka falls to Martin Luther in week 10. If they win both of their remaining games, they would finish with an undefeated conference record and would be the undisputed champs of the UMAC.
MacMurray - The Mac fam still has a potentially unnerving matchup against Westminster this week. If they were to get back on track and defeat them, the last game of the year against St. Scholastica is almost certain to decide the UMAC champion. If MacMurray were to defeat both Westminster and St. Scholastica, Eureka's final two games would determine who the champion would be. If Eureka defeats St. Scholastica and Martin Luther, they would own identical conference records with Eureka holding the head-to-head win. If Eureka were to lose to either St. Scholastica or Martin Luther, they would be out of the running with at least two conference losses, and MacMurray would own the head-to-head win over St. Scholastica, which would make them the new UMAC champs. See above for scenario including losing to Westminster but defeating St. Scholastica.
So, to summarize:
If Eureka wins their final two games, they will be conference champs.
If St. Scholastica wins their final two games, they will be conference champs.
If MacMurray wins their final two games, it depends on the results of Eureka's final two games.
The St. Scholastica - MacMurray game will likely decide the conference champion.
Buckle up, folks. It's gonna be a fun ride.
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